Antisemitism in Michigan

An echo opinion letter published in The Michigan Daily , aka,"The Daily" newspaper by an annonomous contributor. The Michigan Daily is an independent, student-run newspaper serving the University of Michigan and Ann Arbor communities since 1890.

It has been a tumultuous year for both Jewish and Palestinian residents in the state, including at the University of Michigan.

Letter to the Editor: Hamas’ antisemitism cannot be glossed over.Content warning: This article contains mentions of violence.

I have always been proud to be Jewish ✡️— proud of the culture, values and resilience of the Jewish people. 🕎

But now, more than anything, I am afraid: afraid of the rise of antisemitism across the world, afraid of the surge of antisemitic tropes here on campus and afraid of the antisemitic ideology perpetuated by The Michigan Daily by publications such as: “Breaking walls, building solidarity: Unveiling the apartheid struggle in Palestine.”

I want to begin by saying that just because I am Jewish does not mean that I support all the actions of the Israeli government, the same way that being American does not mean I support all the policies enacted by the former and now President-elect Donald Trump 😟😩. Since the creation of the state of Israel in 1948, and the displacement of many Palestinian people, there is no doubt that Israeli governmental policy has inflicted harm on those residing in the West Bank and Gaza. I understand and empathize with the hurt and frustration of the Palestinians living in these territories who are not granted full rights under the Israeli government.

There is a very important distinction to be made between being pro-Palestine and supporting Hamas. Hamas is an openly extremist group, designated by the U.S. Department of State as a foreign terrorist organization, and internationally recognized as a terrorist organization by the European Union, Japan, Egypt and Canada as well. The original charter of Hamas calls for not only the “obliteration” of the state of Israel, but the genocide of all Jews worldwide. Witnessing the amount of support that people on this campus have pledged toward the recent actions taken by Hamas has been incredibly upsetting for those of us that still bear the generational scars of the last genocide of Jews.

The article published by The Daily completely justifies Hamas’s recent attack on Israel. While it mentions deaths of some Israeli soldiers, it conveniently leaves out the more than 1000 innocent civilians, including young children, who were kidnapped and brutally murdered by Hamas. The author cites openly biased and anti-Israel sources, such as the Jewish Voice for Peace, cherry-picking evidence to fit their one-sided narrative.

But, most dangerous is the author’s propagation of false information. Upon an in-depth review of the article, I found multiple of the author’s claims to be completely unfounded:

The author claims that “the United Nations has explicitly stated that ‘the (Israeli barrier) wall is a tool for ethnic cleansing.’ ” This was not a position taken by the United Nations as an entity, but rather a sentiment expressed by the Saudi Arabian Delegate, Al Anazi, in December 2006, during a meeting of the U.N. General Assembly.

The author accuses The New York Times, Fox News and the Times of Israel of fabrication, simply for “presenting this recent act of resistance as an act of terrorism.”

The inflammatory one-sided narrative perpetuated by the author, along with the blatant distribution of misinformation, has huge implications for the University of Michigan’s Jewish community. The deaths of our people are not, and should not, ever be justified.

Violence between Israel and Palestine is one of the most nuanced and complicated conflicts in modern history, and one which I don’t pretend to be an expert on, but the facts are the facts: Hamas is a terrorist group, openly supporting Nazi ideology and determined to destroy both the state of Israel and the Jewish people. Mutilating bodies, raping women and burning innocent civilians alive is never justifiable. 

As a Jewish woman I cannot stay silent and let my peers accept these falsities as truths. Being a Jew on campus these past weeks, I have not only felt terrible sadness, I have also felt unsafe and uncomfortable. Personally witnessing protesters holding up signs with various antisemitic sentiments has been a 💀scary and disheartening experience 😟.

Everyone has the right to their own opinion; but before forming an opinion, I urge you to consider the facts beyond those cited in this one-sided article. I am not in support of suppressing anyone’s voice — I only aim to lift up the voices of my Jewish peers. We are scared💀, but we will never be silenced.

This contributor has asked to remain anonymous for safety reasons, The Daily granted this request.